


Blue Matter

by flameo_rhapsody



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Bato and Hakoda romance, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hundred Year War, M/M, Supportive Katara, Supportive Sokka, Water tribe, a genuinely good healthy ship, childhood crush, childhood friendships, sad stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:07:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25215202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flameo_rhapsody/pseuds/flameo_rhapsody
Summary: There had always been a war. Ever since he had been a child, Hakoda was groomed to fight on the frontlines for his tribe. He may have never always wanted to, but it was never something he could think twice about. The Fire Nation was always a looming shadow plaguing the world with its wrath. The only thing he could hold on to was hope.. and Bato.Haven’t seen a lot of stand alone Hakoda/Bato centred fics, which is a shame because I love them together. So I thought why not write my own?
Relationships: Bato/Hakoda (Avatar)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 38





	1. Reminiscing

i..

Leaving Bato behind was one of the hardest things Hakoda ever thought he had to do. In the beginning, it was just Bato that was on his mind. But slowly, it measured up to much more than that. It reminded him too much of his separation from his children, the two most important people in his life. It felt redundant blaming himself, especially since he knew that it wouldn’t be fair to blame himself alone. Yet, he did it anyway. Abandoning people seemed to be the only thing he was good at anymore. 

The first night being separated from Bato was the hardest. Bato was his anchor, the only truly close thing he had left of his home. Of course he considered the other men family, it would be cruel if he didn’t. But it wasn’t the same, and deep down he knew why, even if he was afraid to admit it. 

Him and Bato had a different kind of relationship. A relationship that was always so complex, ever since they were children. They understood each other, beyond what could be described in words, and being deprived of his presence felt like torture. For the longest time it was Hakoda and Bato, Bato and Hakoda. The last time he had felt so alone was when he had lost Kya.. but even then, Bato was there. Bato was always there.

But then, just like that, he wasn’t. And Hakoda didn’t know what to do. He wanted to cry. But when he tried, no tears fell, and that was that. 

To distract himself, he kept busy. He was in the middle of a hundred year war, after all. What else was there to do but to be busy. But it all came back to him at nighttime, whenever he sat down and stared out at the sea. The smell of salt and the sound of waves always brought him back to Bato. 

He liked to sit and reminisce on the simpler times he and Bato once had. When they were only small children, running around the village and causing chaos wherever they went. He always thought back fondly to the first time they had met, Hakoda had been only seven years old and he had ran away from home. Or at least, he had tried. 

The further he went away from home, the worse the weather had gotten, and before he knew it he was trapped in a blizzard. That was the first time Hakoda found out how violent the wind and snow could be, it was the first time he was afraid of the environment he lived in. He wanted to cry for help, but every time he opened his mouth, snow filled it before he could let out a sound. He was cold, alone, and afraid.

Just when he had given up all hope, a bright foggy light drew him in from a distance. Instinctively, Hakoda had followed it until it brought him to a small cave.

Snow covered his body from the top of his parka, to the edge of his shoes. He was shivering all over and ran over to the familiar image of a burning fire. Abruptly, he was knocked off his feet and fell first face onto the floor. The sudden movement had surprised him, and left him dazed for a moment, before he was aware that someone else was in the cave.

“I’m not afraid of you anymore!” A high pitched voice had spoken, and now Hakoda was confused. He had tried to speak, but his voice came out muffled and it only caused the other person to get more on edge. 

“S-stop! Don’t move! I’ll hit you with my stick again!” The voice said, this time sounding a little less confident than before. Quickly, Hakoda removed the hood of his parka and shook off the excess snow from his body, revealing to the other person in the cave that he was in fact, nothing to be afraid of. 

Hakoda was met with blue eyes as wide as saucers, and comfort almost instantly washed over him. Panic quickly flashed in the other boy's eyes and he swiftly turned away, dropping his weapon. Confused, Hakoda had got up and walked over to him, wondering what was troubling the boy he had just met.

“Hi there...” Hakoda said, his small voice bouncing off the walls of the cave. The other boy shifted awkwardly under Hakoda’s gaze, and it was understandable. Hakoda’s gaze was heavy. 

“Hi…” the other boy finally said, delighting Hakoda with his response. He had completely forgotten about his previous issues and focused all of his attention on this mysterious cave boy. 

“I’m Hakoda, it’s really nice to meet you. You’re from our tribe right? What are you doing all the way out here?”

“What are you doing all the way out here?” The boy snapped back almost immediately. Hakoda crossed his arms and huffed angrily, feeling offended by his off putting behaviour. “I asked first!” He replied. The other boy didn’t say anything, instead he brushed past Hakoda and kneeled down by the crackling fire.

Even though Hakoda was cold, freezing at that, he was stubborn, and wanted the other boy to know that he was mad at him for not being nice. 

Silence filled the small cave as both boys avoided each other’s gaze, the only noise audible was the crackling and popping of the fire. Sighing, Hakoda moved from his position and sat by the mysterious boy at the fire. They still didn’t speak. 

“I got chased out here by a polar bear dog.” The boy finally spoke, catching Hakoda by surprise. The thought of getting run after by an animal of that size was enough to send chills down Hakoda’s spine. He couldn’t help but gape.

“Really?” Hakoda asked, flabbergasted. The other boy nodded, his eyes still glued to the fire in front of him. “Yeah. It was a long time ago though. I thought it would leave after a while because it was too big to fit in here, but I was too nervous to look so I just sat here for a while.” He looked up at Hakoda nervously. “What about you?”

He let out a shaky breath, as embarrassment flooded throughout his body. He debated whether or not he should tell the boy the truth, but ultimately decided that there was no point in lying. 

“I ran away.” His voice bounced off the walls again. “I didn’t know where I was going, and ended up getting caught in the storm.” 

“Really?”

“Yeah..”

“Why did you run away?” 

“Because I’m scared..” Hakoda felt his bottom lip tremble, and looked away in shame. ‘Warriors don’t cry.’ He bitterly reminded himself. 

“It’s okay.” The other boy offered him a smile, a smile that made Hakoda’s stomach do a backflip. 

“I’m scared too.”

The two young boys had stayed together in the cave, slowly getting to know each other. Hakoda has found out that the other boy’s name was Bato, and that he was a member of their tribe. They laughed and joked around, getting so invested in one another that they hadn’t even noticed when the blizzard had died down and the sun had set. 

Hakoda thought back on the memory fondly. He wished he was able to close his eyes and open them and become a seven year old again, but he knew it wasn’t possible, so he didn’t dwell on the thought much longer. Instead, he continued to think about his happy memories with Bato until he fell into a deep sleep.

Those nights were always so bittersweet.


	2. Shadows

ii.

Bato was eleven when the threat of war started to grow worse. There had been another raid, and everyone in the tribe was starting to suffer more and more because of the war. He and Hakoda had tried to lift everyone’s spirits by playing harmless pranks on the people in the village, it ended up blowing up in their faces and somehow managed to make things worse.

Bato remembered watching guiltily as Hakoda got reprimanded by his father for his immaturity, even though they were very much still children. But children rarely ever got to be children during times of war and conflict, and they had to learn that early on. 

“Dad says I have to start preparing.” Hakoda had said to him one afternoon when the two of them had been ice fishing. Bato looked up at him in confusion. “Preparing for what?” He asked. 

Hakoda sighed, his shaky breath visible in the icy air. Bato felt his body deflate. Hakoda was always the “happy go lucky” one of the pair, so the rare times Bato had to see Hakoda serious always found a way to permanently etch itself into his brain. “I have to prepare to become chief,” he said. “dad says it won’t be long til he won’t be around anymore, and I’ll have to take responsibility for the tribe.”

Bato scrunched up his nose in distaste. He knew Hakoda was scared, and it was understandable, what kid wouldn’t be? But that reality of Hakoda becoming chief of their tribe had always seemed like a faint dream, a million years away. 

“But.. but you’re just a kid.” Bato said softly. He heard Hakoda hum in agreement, but they didn’t say much after that. Bato started drifting further away in thought as he started thinking about the future, thinking about if their tribe would even have a future. He had heard all the older warriors' stories about the war, he heard stories about the war from the elders who were there when the war had started. Stories of hurt, blood shed and pain. It frightened him, and sometimes Bato liked to pretend that the war didn’t exist, that he didn’t have to worry about fighting the Fire Nation and their wrath when he grew of age. But his fantasies usually didn’t last long, because something tragic would always bring him back to reality. 

The tugging of the line in front of him brought Bato out of his thoughts, and a feeling of pride washed over him. 

“Hey, Koda look, I think I caught something!” He cried out gleefully as he tried to stay steady on his feet. His excitement quickly brushed off on Hakoda who rushed over to help Bato pull whatever was on the other end of the line out of the water. The two worked together, and finally managed to pull the fish out of the water. They embraced each other victoriously when they had succeeded. But when they had a look at their catch, it caught them completely by surprise.

Hakoda burst out into a fit of laughter as Bato grumbled in embarrassment. The “fish” he had struggled to pull out of the water wasn’t even a centimetre long. He watched in defeat as the fish inches back into the water, and let out a huff of annoyance. 

“It’s not funny.” He mumbled as Hakoda’s fit of laughter continued. Almost as a way to annoy Bato more, Hakoda’s laughter grew louder and less contained. 

Bato glared at him before pushing him off his feet. Bato felt a bit smug as Hakoda’s laughter came to an abrupt halt. But his smugness hadn’t lasted long, his angry gesture only made Hakoda laugh even more. 

Bato heard the familiar sound of crunching snow and turned around to be faced with the chief, Hakoda’s father. This time, Hakoda’s laughter had died down completely and he quickly pushed himself onto his feet.

“Father.” Hakoda said hurriedly. Bato nodded to the chief respectfully, but he brushed past Bato without a glance. Bato saw how Hakoda cowered a bit as his father drew nearer, he fought the urge to go over to him and hold his hand. 

“Playtime is over Hakoda, you’re needed.” His father said, his voice low and intimidating. 

“But.. Bato and I were still fishing-” Hakoda stopped himself mid sentence and sighed. He turned to Bato and gave him a weary smile. Bato nodded in understanding and watched as Hakoda and his father walked back to the village. 

He sat back down on his block of ice and sat there waiting for fish until the sun began to set in the horizon. Eventually, he ceased his efforts and gave up. He packed up his equipment and headed back to the village, yawning occasionally as he struggled to keep himself awake. 

He made sure to stop by the tribe's nurse to pick up medicine for his mother, hoping that she would still be awake as he returned home. Unfortunately, when Bato entered his igloo, she was curled up in a sleeping position. He waddled over to her to check her temperature.

As Bato placed his hand on her forehead, he felt his stomach drop to the bottom of his feet. She was completely frozen. His eyes widened in fear and he hurried to check her breathing. Before he knew it he was screaming for help, holding his mother in his arms.

Bato could barely remember what happened next, his eyes were too blurry with tears to register his surroundings, and he was falling apart. A crowd slowly began to form around his igloo, and the tribe nurse tried her hardest to try and revive the frozen woman in Bato’s arms. 

“Bato,” she had tried to tell him. “Your mothers dead. I’m sorry.” 

“You can’t give up on her! Please don’t give up on her, she’s all I have left!” Bato had sobbed. He kicked and screamed and fought as they had tried to separate him from the corpse of his mother. He begged them with all his might to bring her back to him. In the midst of his meltdown, he hadn’t even noticed when Hakoda had arrived until he felt familiar arms wrap around him.

Bato had spent half the night weeping in Hakoda’s arms. He hated remembering how helpless he had felt, he hated remembering how much it hurt. Bato couldn’t remember a time where he had felt hurt like that in his life. It felt like someone had ripped his heart out of his chest and stomped on it repeatedly, he felt like he was getting deprived of all air, he could barely even breathe. But Hakoda was there. He held Bato tight and didn’t let go. He let him yell at him, he let him hit him, but he was sturdy, he didn’t move, he didn’t leave him.

But this time, he had. 

The first night Bato had been left behind, that time when he was eleven years old couldn’t leave his mind. His mother wasn’t all he had left, he had had Hakoda. He had always had Hakoda. And now he didn’t, and that pain of separation was worse than the burn he had suffered fighting. 

But he felt guilty thinking about Hakoda for too long, because he knew the way he felt about him was different from the way Hakoda felt about him. He had always known, and every time he thought about it too long, his heart ached bitterly. He knew nothing would come out of it, so it always hurt to think about. Hakoda had started a family. He hadn’t. 

Maybe it was because starting a family wouldn’t be fair to the people he would start a family with. Or maybe it was really because he didn’t want to start a family with anyone other than the man that had always been by his side. Through thick and thin. 

Bato sighed. 

The pain in his heart was starting to hurt more than the burn he had suffered on his side. He rolled over and took the burn salve off the nightstand and started to apply it to take his mind off of things. It was a bit difficult, but he was able to apply as much as he could to the areas he could reach without too much struggle. The action reminded him of the time he nursed Hakoda back to health after he broke his arm in a training accident. Though Hakoda had insisted he could handle it himself, Bato had made sure to ignore him. Hakoda had always held up a brave facade, and Bato easily saw through it. He knew he had felt as bad as he had when they had to separate, but he held up a brave face for the other men. It was both a good and bad thing. Bato hadn’t realised he was crying until he moved to brush hair out of his face. He sighed and laid back down on the bed, keeping his eyes glued to the ceiling. He let his mind wander back to Hakoda and the other men, even letting his mind settle on Sokka and Katara for a moment. He knew better than to worry about them too much, though they were kids, they were one of the bravest bunch of kids he knew. Slowly he found himself settling in a deep sleep. It didn’t last long though, his sleep usually never lasted long. They were clouded with too much unresolved feelings and trauma. One of the biggest things (among many) he hoped for when the war was over, was to finally get a good night’s sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of this suffering and pining will end soon, I promise.


End file.
